Sky Boys - How They Built the Empire State Building

"A building, clean and simple and straight as a pencil. And tall, so tall it will scrape the sky."If you've ever stepped foot into New York City, and arched your neck back to see how far up the Empire State Building really goes, you'd swear it's endless. For those who admire this behemoth of a building, you'll enjoy reading Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building. This fascinating nonfiction book gives a glimpse into the building of the famous skyscraper, alongside a fictional tale about a boy watching it all come together. It takes place in the winter of the Great Depression as the boy scavenges for firewood on the streets of New York before school. He discovers a new construction site and over the next year, he visits and describes the process of how the Empire State Building was built. Hundreds of men are leveling, shoveling, hauling. They're hoisting 60,000 tons of steal, stacking 10 million bricks, eating lunch in the clouds. And when they cut ribbon and the c
rowds rush in, the boy and his father are among the first to zoom to the top.Hopkinson does a great job of weaving in all the details: Sixty thousand tons of steel, ten million bricks, sixty-five hundred windows, eighteen hundred and sixty stairs, etc.... But it's Ransome's oil painting of the Empire State Building at dawn that will have you wanting to make a visit.Author: Deborah HopkinsonIllustrator: James E. RansomePublisher: Schwartz & Wade, Feb. 2006Reading Level: Ages 4-8 (48 pages)

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